You are here

Update from Community Renewal Society

Protestants for the Common Good and Community Renewal Society have long shared a vision for mobilizing the faith community on behalf of social justice.

In recent years we have explored partnering on various projects. For two years in a row, we convened gatherings in Springfield to raise awareness of education funding needs and tax reform. Both organizations are currently working on criminal justice reform. Frequently we reach out for support from the same churches.

Occasionally, we’ve even talked about closer collaboration. But it is only recently that we have taken steps in that direction.

Over a year ago, each of us, Calvin Morris and Al Sharp, notified our boards that we were planning to retire from our positions as executive director effective June 30, 2012. After initially forming separate search committees, our organizations have now created a combined committee to explore single leadership.

Just this week the PCG staff has moved in with CRS to share working space as a tenant. This not only achieves cost savings; it also provides the promise of day-to-day cooperation and cross-fertilization on projects and programs we both care about. We think it is also the shared seedbed that will allow us to come up with better and new ideas.

Our boards have agreed to create a Transition Task Force to examine the possibility of an eventual combined organization.

We believe that together we can be stronger than we are separately. Each organization brings distinctive strengths to the work we hope to share. Together we will have a broader base for both education and advocacy as we seek social change.

While we are not yet certain about the final outcome of these steps, we wanted to update you on what has already occurred. We invite you to be a part of this conversation with us.

Even as all of this is happening, our organizations aren’t missing a beat in carrying out our programmatic agendas.

We thank you for your friendship and will keep you informed of our progress in the months ahead.